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March 4, 2013

Amidst all the budgetary gridlock, it's nice to know something still works in the federal government. The first of the Navy's controversial Littoral Combat Ships, LCS-1 Freedom, will sail for Singapore, our not-quite-ally, this Friday, March 1st -- the same day the sequestration cuts will start taking effect -- sporting a new camouflage paint job that sets its apart from traditional naval vessels.(Paint schemes and the cost of applying them to something as massive as a warship are a big deal in the Navy).

Intended to build a new class of small, agile, and innovative warships, the LCS program has come under bitter criticism that the ships are too expensive for their size and too fragile for major combat. Freedom in particular has taken flak for hull cracks, which contractor Lockheed Martin insists are all repaired and won't reoccur on redesigned follow-on ships. After years in development hell, the first LCS is finally underway on a real-world mission -- headed for the Pacific amidst rising tensions between China and its neighbors.